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Anita Stewart And Food Day Canada

Imagine a nationwide day to celebrate a country’s culinary bounty. Then imagine that country is Canada, the second largest on the planet, and you have a sense of the scope of Food Day Canada, which will be held on August 4 this year.

It was founded by Anita Stewart, a culinary activist, educator and writer who has been a tireless advocate for Canadian farmers, fishermen, chefs and restaurants and the country’s culinary history for more than three decades. From the French inspired cuisine of rural Quebec and the food of First Nations’ communities to coastal British Columbia and gastronomic outposts in the Maritimes, Stewart was all about local, regional and seasonal long before the term “locavore” was in vogue. Food Laureate for the University of Guelph, author of more than a dozen food-related books and holder of a graduate degree in Gastronomy from Le Cordon Bleu/University of Adelaide, Stewart is also a Member of the Order of Canada. I recently caught up with the “patron saint of Canadian cuisine,” as she was called by the National Post.

Anita Stewart with a salmon she caught in the Campbell River, BCMark Stewart

How did you come up with the concept of Food Day Canada?

When the borders were closed in 2003 to Canadian beef exports, whole communities were devastated. It was a farming disaster. But it was not a culinary one. My Call to Action to grill Canadian beef anywhere in the world at 6 p.m. on the Saturday of that August’s long weekend reverberated across Canada and beyond. We named it the World’s Longest Barbecue. And it was. The first person to light a grill was in Japan and it followed the sun to end in Victoria, British Columbia. On that Saturday a decade and a half ago, Canadians responded and barbecued Canadian beef with wild abandon. In 2004 my challenge was to cook from their own particular foodscapes and send me their stories whether they were at a family reunion, paddling the North or simply having a backyard picnic. As the years rolled by, it was clear that, on that particular weekend everywhere in Canada the harvest was either in full swing or beginning. So, because it was already a food day, I named it.

The good news is that, since it’s inception, Food Day Canada has grown exponentially and become a very real and respected force for good in the food life of Canada. We are the innovators, the educators and the trendsetters. Several hundred carefully chosen chefs from across the nation have now become our brand advocates, chefs who are on the vanguard of Canadian culinary excellence and care deeply about Canadian regional cuisine. They range from fine dining restaurants to casual places that are populated by the ‘it’ crowd right through to a few quick service eateries. What is so very gratifying is that Canada responds. On August 5th 2017, #FoodDayCanada trended on Twitter at #1 across Canada for the entire afternoon.

Did you grow up on a farm or become a dedicated gardener at some point in your life?

As a child my parents had a small market garden on the outskirts of Toronto. We sold vegetables and berries at the roadside. I loved heading to the rhubarb patch with a bit of sugar in a toy bowl. Pull the small tender stalks, lick the ends and dip them so that the sugar would stick and enjoy the sweet/sourness of one of the first tastes of spring. My mother was a teacher so we’d spend much of her summer holidays preserving, jamming, pickling and freezing our harvest and after my father passed away, my role was amplified. I’d cook and mom would clean up. It was a perfect solution to her long days and my love of food.

Canadian seafood ready for cookingRobert Wigington

Are Canadian chefs underrated on the world culinary stage?

I believe that they are. Canada is such a massive nation, it’s difficult for them to gain any amount of serious notoriety even within our borders much less in America or Europe.

How difficult is it to organize Food Day Canada?

Very! It takes weeks…no, months! I am in touch with each chef who participates and handle all the media personally. We have some very dedicated volunteers and the University of Guelph where I am the Food Laureate, always helps out immensely. Believe me, I’d be lost without my young friends who are experts in social media.

Icebergs off Fogo IslandFogo Island Inn

Are you on the road a lot, visiting chefs and farms throughout the country?

Over the years I’ve criss-crossed the country countless times. Chefs themselves have become the brand ambassadors, helping to identify possible participants. For me it’s become a real voyage of discovery that has yet to wear thin. In the words of Brillat Savarin, “The discovery of a new dish does more for the happiness of mankind than the discovery of a star.”

You bring Canadian chefs to the James Beard House in Manhattan once a year. Has this helped spread the word about culinary excellence north of our border?

Yes, to a degree. There are so many Canadians in New York City that they fill up many of the guest spaces. It’s become quite a pride-filled exercise. And we dine very, very well! It’s such a magical evening!

Chef Norman LaPrise of Toque!Toque!

If I was heading to Montreal today, where should I eat tonight?

Toque! for fancy and fabulous. Monkland Tavern for a genuine taste of great Quebec food in a more casual atmosphere. Both suss out the most interesting ingredients in their region.

Jack Chen and Lee Cooper of L’AbbatoirL’Abattoir

Same with Vancouver.

Bishops is one of the most respected restaurants in the city. The owner John Bishop is the gracious host. He’s quietly mentored many of Canada’s now-great chefs. L’Abattoir is another one where you can’t go wrong. Chef Lee Cooper is someone to watch.

Nancy Hinton’s plates of wild ediblesLes Jardins Sauvages

Name a couple of remote places in Canada where I might be surprised to find a restaurant with extraordinary cooking.

You have to really want to get to these places! It will take time and planning but it will also be an education into the very essence of Canadian cuisine.

Les Jardins Sauvages is outside of Montreal and the by-reservation-only dinners showcase the decades of foraging knowledge of partners Francois Brouillard and Chef Nancy Hinton. He was the first to put wild edibles from spruce tips to milkweed pods onto the market and menus of Montreal’s top restaurants while Chef Hinton was serving forth visually beautiful meals in their farm home. Aside from being a country eatery, they create and sell a line of products derived from their property’s wild plants and mushrooms at a farmer’s market stall at Marché Jean Talon in Montreal’s vibrant Little Italy. Theirs was slow food, terroir, locavore and ecolo – before they all became buzz words.

Gooseneck barnacles at The Wickaninnish Inn, BCThe Wickaninnish Inn

The Wickaninnish Inn is located in British Columbia’s far, far west coast in an area that is now an official UNESCO World Biosphere. On all three sides of the inn there is the often-pounding Pacific, the backdrop is an old growth forest. When I think of The “Wick” I think of whales and storms and fabulous surf and equally fabulous food. At night the only lights on the beach are from glimmering masses of stars, the lighthouse that flashes rhythmically and a few flickering campfires. The area around Tofino is rich in great ingredients. Crab is harvested all year round; there are wild berries by the ton; the salmon stocks are healthy; the halibut that’s on the menu is landed almost in front of the inn. There are gooseneck barnacles, fresh clams and fat, briny beach oysters. Executive Chef Warren Barr uses them all in The Pointe Restaurant, a dining room with a 240’ view of the Pacific.

Fogo Island InnFogo Island Inn

According to the Flat Earth Society, Fogo Island and its massive rock outcropping, Brimstone Head, is one of the four corners of the earth. First settled in the 1680’s, it wasn’t till 1971 that electricity arrived. The spectacular Fogo Island Inn sits on the edge of the Labrador current and Iceberg Alley.

‘It’s the only part of the world where people live with moving ice’ owner Zita Cobb explains. And fishing was central to that lifestyle. ‘The fish are why we came here….they are part of our songs, our stories…part of us.’ Fogo Island also happens to be one big berry patch. ‘The indigenous food sources are an incredible resource.’

Chef Jonathan Gushue, Fogo Island InnFogo Island Inn

Jonathan Gushue, a Newfoundlander himself, is one of our nation’s renowned chefs. He understands the landscape and that’s what he serves forth, from the batch of toutons for breakfast to some of the most imaginative contemporary cuisine on the east coast of North America.

Bentwood box.Robert Wigington

For those who are challenged by the concept of Canadian cuisine, can you name three dishes that are truly Canadian (and truly delicious)?

I define Canadian cuisine as ‘possibilities’…it’s ultimately regional and seasonal with a dash of history thrown in for good measure. From Quebec there’s maple sugar pie, from Ontario there are butter tarts. In British Columbia you may be lucky and find a First Nation’s feast of bentwood box cooked shellfish. The venerable Yukon Gold potato* turned 51 this year…they are so good thinly sliced and gratinéed with cream and a grating of old cheddar. Cedar sticks impale huge wild salmon filets so they can be fire-roasted. Although it’s not traditional I love this salmon with a buttery, wild red huckleberry sauce.

*The first hill of Yukon Gold potatoes were dug near Cambridge, Ontario by University of Guelph potato breeder, the late Gary Johnston.

What’s next for Food Day Canada?

In spite of our vast geographical and historical differences, Canada is one big family. So this year, on August 4th, the 15th Anniversary of the World’s Longest Barbecue, we are planning a virtual reunion of cooking, eating and sharing. With the summer harvest in full swing, chefs and home cooks alike will celebrate our magnificent northern bounty from coast to coast to coast. Our website will chronicle A Food Day in the Life of Canada. Stay tuned and if you want to, join the party!